South Korea plans July rules for tokenized securities

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to release detailed tokenized securities rules in July as the country prepares to bring blockchain-based securities under its capital markets framework in 2027.

The measures are expected to include a roadmap for tokenizing stocks, bonds and money market funds, possible changes to over-the-counter trading limits and rules allowing some fractional investment products to pool similar underlying assets, the FSC announced on Friday at the second meeting of its public-private tokenized securities council, which was launched in March to design issuance, trading, infrastructure and settlement rules before the framework takes effect in 2027.

“The goal is to make an announcement in July,” said FSC Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young, adding that the new rules will serve for the “institutionalization” of tokenized securities.

The July package will be an important test of how far South Korea is willing to open regulated capital markets to distributed ledger infrastructure while keeping tokenized securities inside existing investor-protection rules.

The announcement followed the new Bank of Korea Governor, Hyun-Song Shin, who voiced support for tokenized deposits in his first public address, as Cointelegraph reported on April 21.

A week earlier, on April 16, South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance announced a pilot project that will use tokenized deposits to execute government operational spending, with a full rollout set for the fourth quarter of 2026.

The Second Public-Private Joint Tokenized Securities Council. Source: FSC.go.kr

FSC accelerates tokenized regulation efforts ahead of 2027 rollout

The news comes amid the planned implementation of the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act, the country’s first tokenized securities framework, which is scheduled to take full effect on Feb. 4, 2027.

The implementation will mark the launch of South Korea’s first regulated environment for issuing, distributing and trading tokenized securities on distributed blockchain ledgers.

Related: South Korea’s Shinhan Card taps Solana to test real-world stablecoin payments

The framework will legally recognize blockchain-ledgers as valid securities registries, bringing tokenized assets under the FSC’s jurisdiction out of their current experimental stage.

The FSC first announced the incoming amendments to the legislation on Jan. 15, 2026, setting a one-year preparatory period for lawmakers.

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